Yarkshire Gamer Reet Big Wargames Podcast

Well well well, its a swelled headed Ray, day today.

Myself and BigLee , spoke with Ken Rilley AKA the Yarkshire Gamer while we were at Salute last month, for some reason he asked us both if we'd like to be interviewed on his podcast......of course we both agreed!!!

What followed was nearly 3 hours of mayhem talking about all things wargaming.

Stolen from Lee's blog, I couldn't say it any better....

"Over the course of the recording, we covered a wide range of topics close to our hearts. We talked about our personal journeys into the world of wargaming, how we both fell in love with the hobby, and some of the memorable moments we've experienced along the way. Of course, no conversation between wargamers would be complete without mentioning Postie’s Rejects, the gaming group we're both proud to be part of. We shared some behind-the-scenes stories and insights into what makes our little band of wargaming misfits tick.

We also took some time to reflect on the recent Salute 52 show, sharing our impressions, highlights, and some honest opinions about the event. It was a great opportunity to dive into what makes shows like Salute such an important part of the hobby community — and to have a few good-natured rants along the way!

Ken has now bravely released our ramblings into the wild for the entire wargaming world to hear. If you enjoy hearing about wargaming from the point of view of people who are deeply passionate (and perhaps just a little bit unhinged), this episode is definitely worth your time.

We’d love for you to go and give it a listen — and while you're at it, please leave a thumbs up for Ken! It’s clear he put a tremendous amount of work into bringing this all together, and it really shows. Recording a four-hour epic is no small task, and editing it is an even bigger one. Huge thanks to Ken for inviting us on and for making the whole experience such a fun and memorable one.

You can find the episode on the Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Podcast on Podbean or on your favourite podcast platform. Also check out Ken’s Yarkshire Wargamers blog to see his amazing Italian Wars stuff and of course previous episodes of the Podcast. Happy listening!"

Retreat from Moscow - Hessian Chevau Leger

 

The best laid plans of mice and me?

All through the planning stages of my French and Allied army for my and Lee's Retreat project, my plan was to have a small number of cavalry, and the units that did get painted were going to be a mish mash of individual figures from several different units, which to me was the best idea, but...........

In reading more and more about the Retreat, I decided that this unit, the Hessian Chevauxleger or Chevau leger deserved their own unit. So more figures had to be bought and a few heads that had been glued on, had to be swapped again.

During the Russian Campaign the regiment were assigned to Marshal Victor's IX Corps as part of Daendels' Division. On its pass through Danzig, it was  praised by General Rapp, and it would linger in East Prussia for most of the early campaign due to Russian forces threatening the Duchy of Warsaw. After a horrible stay in Tilsit, the troops moved into Russia and reached Smolensk on 29th September.

When Napoleon's main army commenced its retreat, the IX Corps was made to meet the retreating II Corps of Marshal Saint-Cyr at Vitebsk. By 5th November, the regiment would be at Lukoml, where it halted the advancing Russian forces,  despite the difficult conditions endured by the entire division. The retreat would continue and on 14th November, Victor's corps fought at Smolensk but withdraw the following day to Krasnaya Gora. 

During this march, it formed the rearguard of the XI Corps, constantly harried by Russian Cossacks until the Berezina where they fought a glorious final stand. Russian forces had captured the French Partoneaux Division, forcing Victor to send a patrol of Baden Hussars in the direction of Borisow with the Hessians trailing behind. The Baden Hussars were caught and were severely outnumbered by Russian Hussars, but were saved by a timely attack of the chevauxlegers.

The patrol returned and formed the rearguard of the arny crossing the Berezina, they came under the fire from the advancing Russian army and in the desperate defense, Russian Cuirassiers would crush the weakened Hesse-Baden riders, which spelled the end of the regiment as an organized fighting force. Thirty men would be fit for duty by the night of 28th November, who withdraw across the river and remained part of Marshal Victor's headquarters for the remainder of the campaign.

I bought the unusual sabot bases on ebay, not realising at the time that they were from Northumbrian Painting Service aka Reiver Castings, who I've dealt with loads of times previously. Here's a link if your interested. They're a card base with the mdf cut out glued into place.

Now the last question is, will I paint up their partners in crime, the Baden Hussars????

Retreat from Moscow - Crossing the Berezina - Engineers & Pontoniers

 

No Retreat from Moscow collection can be complete without some Engineers and Pontoniers?

"All eyes rested on the River Berezina, which ran down the map from Wittgenstein's outposts in the north to join the Dnieper, east of the marches. Here was a natural obstacle in the path of the retreating French.

At Minsk, Napoleon heard the news that Minsk had been taken, he knew he had to hurry for the Berezina, three Russian armies where converging on the river. At Borisov there was a bridge on the road leading to Vilna, it was essential to reach it before any of the Russian armies. In trying to clear the town of Borisov the bridge was fired and destroyed, a new crossing had to be found fast.

Luckily local peasants informed Oudinot, there was a possible crossing at Studenka, 7 miles north, a French reconnaissance party was sent out to discover if pontoon bridges could be erected at Studenka for the retreating columns, who were only a day and a half's march away.

Napoleon and most of units of the Grande Armee arrived on the left bank of the river in the early hours of the 25th November. The Russians thought the French would cross 20 miles south and set up for battle, this gave the French a little breathing space and allowed its Engineers and pontoniers to build 2 bridges at Studenka, despite fire from the Russian advance guard. Most of the army were able to cross the Berezina between the afternoon of the 26th November and the night of the 28th-29th, but on the last day there were terrible scenes as the stragglers fought to cross the bridge before they were destroyed by the French rearguard. Its estimated that 15,000 people remained on the eastern bank, huddled beside camp fires until the Cossack lances bought a cruel end to their misery."

From Russia in War and Peace by Alan Palmer

All the figures are from Perry Miniatures , Here we have an Imperial Guard Engineer Officer, his ACD and Pontonier Officer.

The Pontoniers hard at work.

For these 5 Pontonier figures I decided to base them on clear bases, so when we get a river, they would look better standing in the water. Nearly all of the Pontoniers who entered the water to fix the pontoon bridge, never made it out of the water, those who did died soon after.

The wagon

I bought another Pontoon pack, you know? Just incase?

And here's another Pontoon bridge. I must have bought this 20 odd years ago, from I don't know who and after all that time, I'll finally get to use it.

The clear bases really work with these figures.

All the pontoon pieces together.